Nico
Nico is captivating audiences with originality, a distinct musical style and edgy rock production, on full display in the new radio single 'The War'. We wanted to find out what drives this dedicated artist to push the limits of the genre.
ANDREW: What drew you to the music business?
NICO: In music creation, I forget about my worries, chase away depression, and dedicate my excess time to it. I would divide this music industry into two groups that complement and create a synergy of art. The first group consists of people who create, record, produce, distribute, protect, archive, etc. music. The second group relates to those who are categorized as listeners, fans, music collectors, critics, and many other similar roles. Over time, I have joined the first group. You won't find any collection of musical works from me, but out of politeness, I will listen to any music and learn from it. Additionally, it's also a love for music that I've been devoted to for over 3 generations. As a small boy, I admired playing the guitar and it still fascinates me today. Initially, I had music as a hobby, but then self-study came into play, followed by my first serious contacts with instruments, music techniques, and my first compositions and guest appearances in music bands. Over time, I have accumulated hundreds of musical ideas. Eventually, I fell so deeply into it that today I have enough original material for music albums. It's hard to say where it comes from within me, but when you are attentive and creative in this music sphere, it will show you the way. And to a certain extent, the law of attraction also applies.
ANDREW: How would you describe your sound on your latest single 'The War'?
NICO: It’s new to me that I was able to set it up and tune. I am satisfied with this sound. It's a metal, juicy, dynamic, not too pre-modulated (drowned) sound. When adjusting sound and modulation effects, I follow the motto of everything in moderation. On the last album Silent Planet, I worked for about 2 years. Just on this track The War, the first settings, corrections and sound tests began. I tried to adapt the sound color to rock and metal. I like to use distortion pedals such as tube distortion, clean tube, overdrive, heavy metal, and sometimes grunge. I then drive this sound through a Wah pedal, achieving a specific tone that stands out from the entire recording, and also revives it and creates variability. Accompanying instruments such as the background guitar, I put into stereo. Melodic lines such as guitar, synthesizer, I placed in mono in the middle and if necessary, I also adjust their panoramically. The synthesizer appears in the second voice at the beginning of the song in a melodic line that chromatically descends. With the bass line, I played around by placing it in the middle and adding a weak stereo. Drums are panoramically placed, bass and snare drum are placed in the middle. I have a special effect for the snare drum, so it sounds like it fills a certain space. Finally, I add modulation effects, mix, and drive it through mastering. The recording is finished. When creating, I need silence and peace.
ANDREW: What inspired the name of your new single?
NICO: The inspiration for the name of my new single, "The War," came from the beginning of 2020, when I started working on my latest album, Silent Planet. I was thinking about the worst possible scenarios for humanity and the initial motif was based on those worst-case scenarios. The name is direct and clear for everyone, and doesn't need further explanation. The working title for this song was "15 minutes to the end." War evokes different emotions and conflicting opinions in everyone. We are not all the same. And yet, faith, politics, war and peace are human creations. There, one must look for the specific individual - the person. If someone is wronged, hurt, emotions flare and a spark of tension is born. A wise person knows that this small spark can ignite a long-accumulated energy. This means that the balance is extremely disturbed. Go back to the dawn of time, when man stood on his hind legs. Until then, he only fought nature, which created him. He understood what everything could serve him for: the thumb, the brain, and here we can observe the first seeds of war. A primitive grasp of a stone or a piece of a branch and subsequent attack on a target, which will be determined by his primitive brain with adrenaline in his blood. Today, we can laugh at this simple story, but for that individual it was simply a question of survival. And maybe it's thanks to this reaction that we are here today as representatives of today's civilization. Time passes and man continues to evolve. From caves and settlements, we have progressed to republics, federations, states, or unions. From using stones as weapons, we have advanced to hypersonic weapons with artificial intelligence that allows us to rule and govern the course of history. Through research, observation, and careful consideration, we have come to the realization that blood is not water, facts and fiction are different concepts. And ultimately, a wise and educated person knows that even small things matter.
ANDREW: What’s the biggest problem you’ve had to overcome so far?
NICO: After dealing with the loss of both parents, a health problem came my way. I won't go into detail, but after a surgery that went relatively well, I had to change my eating habits. As for music, I tend to solve problems more as tasks because I do this work with joy and enthusiasm. And even the biggest problems in this artistic sphere seem like a game to me.
ANDREW: What do you enjoy most about being a musician? What do you enjoy least?
NICO: I enjoy the immediate expression and this knowledge I would generally apply to overall art. Freedom, fantasy, personal growth, development of creativity, being able to express oneself from an inner and outer personal stance towards a given topic or to the essence of the matter. I enjoy looking at the world upside down. Leaving a legacy for future generations. I definitely don't enjoy, as every reasonable person, returning, with thoughts and actions. I don't enjoy taking photos, posing. I don't enjoy playing something constantly around and making music by force out of obligation. I don't like commanding, and I don't like being commanded, so I always need a certain kind of freedom. Freedom has a great value for me in music.
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ANDREW: If you could change anything about the music industry, what would it be?
NICO: Currently, thanks to modern technology, everything is much faster, simpler, more sophisticated, less bureaucracy, more options to choose from. I think that in the music industry, there are wise, skillful, and inventive people working. Beginnings are hard and demanding for everyone. I understood this as well when, for example, I needed to combine my official channel on a social network with my music publisher and his partners from similar platforms. This first connection lasted quite a long time. Probably the human factor was to blame for verification. But now every planned premiere goes smoothly and like Swiss clockwork. A.I. (Artificial Intelligence) will soon be managing our lives and the music industry won't escape it. Progress and development simply can't be stopped. Already today, we can communicate, work, connect on the basis of technology + binary calculations + internet world. In the future, it should continue with quantum, photonic calculations. This should be the music of the future and should cover it all. I think it's developing in a good, interesting direction.
ANDREW: How long have you been in the music business and how did you get started?
NICO: Honestly, in my youth I never had ambitions to get involved in the music industry. But over time and with enough accumulated music material that is mostly from my pen, I decided to enter this industry. It's been more than a dozen years since I released my first official single called "Hero from the Xbox." I manage my music myself along with The Akademia, which leads me to new knowledge, experiences around the music industry and business. It's not just about composing, recording, and producing music but my work continues further. I've already found out that I enjoy and am interested in this area around musical art. Personally, I'm not in a hurry anywhere, so I carefully review, discuss, and learn everything.
ANDREW: If you could be any animal in the world, what animal would you be and why?
NICO: I had a good laugh and a giggle over this question. It's really fun.. But first, it would have to be an animal on which there are not too many demands, nothing is pressing on it, nothing restricts it, it has enough freedom, food for its growth, and time for the development of its abilities that will allow it to reach the top of the chain and stay there. Hmm... I have a feeling that I finally named the characteristics of a human (laugh). I can turn into any animal, but in the end, unfortunately, I will wake up as a pre-human. I can't do anything about that. I admire nature and I like to move in it. My life creed is that I love animals and I never hit little children.
ANDREW: When do your musical ideas come to you?
NICO: I have, so to speak, two states during the daily work schedule. In the morning hours right after waking up, I grab a guitar and look for tones. I just ride on the fretboard. If something comes, I then record it on a sound recorder. I have hundreds of them. They are short 1-2 measure motifs. The second, so to speak, supportive state when musical thoughts come to me is showering or relaxing in water. Yes, under running water, I like to sing, whistle, and then I get complete musical phrases. I also record them and leave them on the recorder. I don't carry anything in my head except theory and experience. Then, over time, I play these recordings and choose from them those that will appeal to me for new creation."
ANDREW: Which song did you have the most trouble writing and why?
NICO: It was exactly this song The War. I set the bar quite high and set a high difficulty level. In this song, my imagination also broke. Basically, I started and ended work on the latest album Silent Planet with this song. In each creation, I start from complete emptiness. Like you would fly somewhere in the vacuum in intergalactic space. I always need to depersonalize and then start a new creation. In this state, I grab an idea and start developing it. Sometimes I toss the idea around for months before I start or finish it. Some songs have been under development for months or even years. For example, the song A New Era is old perhaps even 10 years as a demo recording. With the song Rendezvous with Death, I got stuck on the intermezzo in the middle of the song, where I needed to express "death" through music. I also had trouble figuring out how to do it and how to get out of it. And now hold on! The song Silent Planet, its initial roots and some chord progressions and fingerings, I would date its creation to 1995. It's not just a matter of one or two years of creation, as my albums are chronologically linked, but all songs speak of my lifelong work. So each of my songs carries its own problems.
ANDREW: What city would you most like to perform at while on tour?
NICO: I don't have any preferred cities and I don't see a problem playing in cities where there is interest in listening to me live. But I think that in today's modern age, you can also make a good home session. It goes without saying that there is no contact with the audience, which can put some people off, so I also don't shy away from the idea of a live performance. But I also have some recordings in the form of half-payback. You can listen to it, it's of good quality. You can find these recordings on my website. So in the future, we may meet somewhere in person. But I must admit that I like it best when I immerse myself in composing music and not showing up on stages. But never say never.
ANDREW: What's next for you as a musician that fans can look forward to?
NICO: I am extremely happy that I was able to complete and release the latest album Silent Planet. I have not yet grown tired of music creation, but a momentary break from it would benefit me. I currently do not feel ready to work on a new album, this last one has exhausted me quite a bit! I have plans to finish one song and I am looking for a suitable vocalist. The lyrics are about a woman and her quirks. I think that with this one-time song, I will also be able to rest and recharge my energy. Then I should start working on new instrumental creation. I have some demo recordings prepared. At the present time, we are facing a world crisis, which will certainly also affect my work. The world will need more energy from sources such as electricity and gas. These will be the main commodities on the market. We are in the new smart industry 4.0. There will be new changes, concerns and new technology. And of course, in addition to music creation, I am also continuing my education in the English as it is my priority. And by the way, my native language is Slovak and it is one oft he hardest to learn languages in the world. I would like to wish everyone good health, a lucky hand, and strong nerves when making decisions in the current global trend.
ANDREW: Interesting! It's been great speaking with you! Thank you for your candid answers and I can't wait to hear what’s next in your music career.
https://www.theakademia.com/artistkit/Nico-TheWar.html
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